Terravita Market 11/08 - 4/09

TERRAVITA ANNIVERSARY

It was 15 years ago this morning that the first home was sold in Terravita. It was such a nuthouse that day that there are still arguments raging over who sold and who bought the first home, but it was certainly that day.

1993 was a time with some surprising similarities to right now. Like 2008,  the date of the day after Thanksgiving that year happened to be the 28th, and both years were unusually wet years with record precipitation levels. While the rain in 1993 was benificial in many ways, it  had set the Terravita land development back at least a month.  But the larger similarity was that the country was just climbing out of the S&L debacle of the late 1980’s.  The RTC had been selling thousands of foreclosed properties, and folks were just beginning to wonder if it was time to buy real estate yet. The land Del Webb bought for Terravita was one of those RTC properties.

I think this is Bramble Berry Road in section E

When we opened for sales that morning all there was to see was a crummy little trailer with four offices sitting on the southeast corner of what is Scottsdale Road and what became Terravita Way. The roads in that particular section were bladed and the lots were formed, but that was it.

The sales people were; Dick Buckley, Ron Cromwell, Roland Malka, Dwayne Harmon, Kenda Yonkers, and Darlene Placone and me.  If you wanted to find a homesite that day you needed one of us, or at least a truck because it was pretty rugged out on the property.  However you figured out which lot you wanted, you really needed to make two selections, because there was a good chance that the one you liked would be gone by the time you got back to the trailer.  

While it was exciting, it was also a frustrating process for many, and it was a bit of a leap of faith.  There was no clubhouse, no golf course, no tennis courts, no stores, or any of the amenities that we enjoy now.  The model homes selections were really just floorplans because the actual model homes were only at the frame stage.  If you wanted to take a tour of those models you had to have a salesperson with you, and a hard hat. And the sales people were always busy. 

Imagine what it was like for a buyer. With virtually nothing to look at you had to quickly decide:

1. Do I want to live here (And is the housing crisis over)

2. Which series of homes do I want to live in (Series 1,2,3, or 4)

3. Which floorplan in that series do I want

4. Where that series of homes was being built

5. Which lots were still available in that series

Choosing a lot wasn’t easy at that point. Every lot had amazing views of lush desert and the mountains beyond because there was nothing built yet to block your views! You had to guess what the views would be like when everything else was completed.  And what if you couldn’t find a lot in the series home you liked? You had to start the process all over again in another series!

But in the end we all survived, and what Del Webb scheduled as a 6 to 10 year project was sold out in 3 1/2 years. It actually would have been much quicker, but the land development guys could never catch up.  Ultimately Terravita became the most successful selling community in the United States.  There were six campouts where folks camped in the parking lot of what is now the Desert Pavilion (one of them for 10 days!) , so that they could choose the homesite they wanted in Terravita.

Clubhouse later that year (About June I think)

The 10th hole just before they installed the greens 

As you might imagine over the years I have had many conversations with the folks that had the courage to brave all the difficulties and bought at that time. Everyone involved was surprised they put up with all the inconveniences at the time. But every single one of us agrees that it was one of the best decisions we ever made, and that we were all privileged and blessed to have been a part of it. Terravita was and still is today the best community in Scottsdale and maybe anywhere.